1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a seat assembly for a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a seat assembly equipped with a seat belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional seat belt-equipped seat assembly will be outlined with reference to FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings, which is generally designated by numeral 1.
The seat assembly 1 comprises a seat cushion part 2 and a seat back part 3. A known reclining mechanism is arranged between the parts 2 and 3 to allow a tilting movement of the seat back part 3 relative to the seat cushion part 2. Parallel upper rails 5a and 5b are secured to lower side frames 4a and 4b of the seat cushion part 2. The upper rails 5a and 5b are slidably disposed on parallel lower rails 6a and 6b which, in turn, are secured to rectangular rotatable frame 7. Although not shown in the drawing, a known position lock device is arranged between the upper and lower rails to lock the upper rails at a desired position relative to the lower rails. The rotatable frame 7 is rotatably disposed on a support member 8 which is stationarily mounted on a vehicle floor 9. As will be understood from FIG. 3, the rectangular rotatable frame 7 is formed at its depressed center portion with a circular opening 71. The peripheral edge 72 of the circular opening 71 is slidably disposed in a circular groove 82 formed on an upper raised portion of the support member 8. Designated by numeral 81 a circular opening formed in the raised center portion of the support member 8, about which is defined the circular groove 82. Because of the rotatable connection of the rotatable frame 7 to the support member 8, the seat proper, more particularly, the parts supported by the rotatable frame 7 are horizontally rotatable relative to the vehicle floor 9. Furthermore, because of the sliding connection of the upper rails 5a to the lower rails 6a, the seat proper, more particularly, the parts supported by the upper rails 5a are horizontally and linearly movable relative to the vehicle floor 9.
The seat assembly 1 is equipped with a seat belt assembly, more particularly, a lap belt assembly which comprises a buckle member 10a fixed to a first belt portion 10c and a tongue member 10b fixed to a second belt portion 10d. The first and second belt portions 10c and 10d are connected to the lower side frames 4a and 4b of the seat cushion part 2 through respective retainers 11a and 11b.
However, hitherto, the connection of the seat belt assembly to the seat assembly has been given little thought. In fact, as is described herein above, such connection has been made by using only the retainers 11a and 11b fixed to the lower side frames 4a and 4b of the seat cushion part 2. Thus, upon application of big shock to the seat belt assembly by a seated passenger due to, for example, sudden braking of the vehicle, a big load is entirely applied on the retainers 11a and 11b. This induces sometimes deformation and/or breakage of the frames 4a and 4b of the seat cushion part 2 because the durability of these frames to such shock is usually poor.